Article for August, 2005
Breastfeeding Your Baby
An excerpt from the book, Our Bodies Ourselves
By Anne Merewood, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics,
Boston University School of Medicine
When I realized a revised edition of the women’s health classic, Our Bodies Ourselves, was in the works, I bugged the editors to let me help create a brand new breastfeeding chapter. Popular books and articles on breastfeeding are often fraught with misinformation, so my co-author, Bobbi Philipp, MD, and I, were thrilled when OBOS offered us the chance to write an up to date, evidence-based breastfeeding section that would be read by so many women. Also, we knew the frank honesty that characterizes the book would allow us to tell the truth about breastfeeding in the US today.
And what is the truth? Well, the US has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world, the formula industry is a fearsome competitor for breastfeeding advocates, and although the vast majority of US women want to breastfeed, practical barriers, lack of support, and misinformation all contribute to our nation’s low rates. The good news is that scientific evidence is now piled up so high in favor of breastfeeding, demonstrating, for example, that breastfed babies have a much lower risk of ear infections, upper respiratory tract infections, obesity, and a whole host of other illnesses and conditions than their formula-fed peers. We also know that women can help to reduce their chance of breast cancer by up to 50%, depending on how long they breastfeed.
The goal of the Our Bodies breastfeeding section was to provide sound support for breastfeeding mothers — from negotiating the hospital, to latching on or managing sore nipples — without the misleading myths. You won’t find anything about avoiding spicy foods, offering both breasts at every feed, or congenital absence of a milk supply. Just the evidence, and practical pointers to help moms and babies start out nursing happily on the right (or left — it doesn’t matter) breast.
Read the rest of this month's article, Breastfeeding Your Baby.
This health article is brought to you by our Featured Health Article of the month:
Anne Merewood
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine
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Current as of August 2005
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